1970s Sugar Cookies
Joyce Nadolny Shui, Bellevue, WA
pdf file of the actual magazine page with the recipe
http://www.purpleschool.com (joyce's School)
Many of my fondest memories are food memories which my mom built for me. She introduced me to the reuben sandwich, the pastrami sandwich, lasagne, English muffin pizzas, stuffed manicotti, fruitcake at Christmastime, sugar cookies and on and on and on . . . I remember so many of those moments, holding my mother's hand some of those times (ordering a pastrami sandwich!) and feeling so excited to be learning something new from her. I was just a child. When I was little, I remember thinking that all these things were brand new, like they had just been invented and my mother was on the cutting edge of introducing me to these new inventions.
Now I wonder whether they were new to our entire family because these were American things to an immigrant family or were they new to American society too or were they new to me just because I was a little child learning, experiencing, tasting things for the first time?
How will Kiana, Sophia (and soon Julia!) remember their first food experiences? Will they remember them? Or were mine more vivid because they were made vivid by my mom?
And so without further delay, drum roll, here's the sugar cookie recipe that will forever bring warmth to my heart and a smile to my face. I have fond memories of my mom making batches and batches of these every Christmas and sharing with friends and teachers and of course me. Those were wonderful Christmases. Thanks Mom. (and yes, mom, I lost your fruitcake recipe . . . and, given that I actually loved your fruitcake and all of those memories too, it was not deliberate).
